ABSTRACT We identify a phenomenon related to non-GAAP earnings disclosure and examine its prevalence around Regulation G (RegG). Specifically, we analyze to what extent firms only disclose adjustments to GAAP earnings instead of entire adjusted earnings figures thereby not providing the ideal non-GAAP to GAAP reconciliation promoted by RegG. We refer to this reporting behavior as “implicit non-GAAP reporting” and ask three different questions: How is “implicit non-GAAP reporting” related with the adoption of RegG? What type of firm reports implicit non-GAAP measures? What are the motives for “implicit non-GAAP reporting” post-RegG? Our analyses yield three key findings. First, the frequency of “implicit non-GAAP reporting” spikes after the regulatory intervention but to a lesser degree also existed before. Second, during the post-RegG time period, the prevalence of “implicit non-GAAP reporting” is much higher among firms who only started to report non-GAAP earnings after RegG was enacted (starters) than among those, which continued to disclose non-GAAP earnings across the regulatory intervention (continuers). Third, we show that only for starters, “implicit non-GAAP reporting” is associated with motives of beating analyst earnings forecasts as well as experiencing GAAP losses. Our study provides important insights for regulators, firms and academics into "implicit non-GAAP reporting" by examining properties and determinants of implicit vs. explicit non-GAAP earnings for different types of firms around RegG.

中文翻译：

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围绕法规G的非GAAP收益披露–“隐式非GAAP报告”案例

摘要我们确定了与非GAAP收益披露相关的现象，并研究了其在法规G（RegG）周围的普遍性。具体而言，我们分析了企业仅在多大程度上披露了对GAAP收益的调整，而不披露整个调整后的收益数据，从而没有提供RegG推动的理想的非GAAP与GAAP对帐。我们将此报告行为称为“隐式非GAAP报告”，并提出三个不同的问题：“隐式非GAAP报告”与RegG的采用有何关系？哪种类型的公司报告隐含的非GAAP指标？RegG之后“隐式非GAAP报告”的动机是什么？我们的分析得出三个主要发现。首先，“隐性非GAAP报告”的频率在监管干预后达到峰值，但在较小程度上也曾存在。其次，在RegG后时期 在RegG颁布后才开始报告非GAAP收益的公司（初学者）中，“隐性非GAAP报告”的发生率要比在整个监管干预措施中继续披露非GAAP收益的公司（续）中的高得多。 。第三，我们表明，仅对于初学者而言，“隐式非GAAP报告”与击败分析师收益预测以及遭受GAAP亏损的动机有关。通过研究RegG周围不同类型公司的隐性和显式非GAAP收益的性质和决定因素，我们的研究为监管机构，公司和学者提供了关于“隐性非GAAP报告”的重要见解。在整个监管干预措施（续）中继续披露了非GAAP收入。第三，我们表明，仅对于初学者而言，“隐式非GAAP报告”与击败分析师收益预测以及遭受GAAP亏损的动机有关。通过研究RegG周围不同类型公司的隐性和显式非GAAP收益的性质和决定因素，我们的研究为监管机构，公司和学者提供了关于“隐性非GAAP报告”的重要见解。在整个监管干预措施（续）中继续披露了非GAAP收入。第三，我们表明，仅对于初学者而言，“隐式非GAAP报告”与击败分析师收益预测以及遭受GAAP亏损的动机有关。通过研究RegG周围不同类型公司的隐性和显式非GAAP收益的性质和决定因素，我们的研究为监管机构，公司和学者提供了关于“隐性非GAAP报告”的重要见解。